MIRROR,
MIRROR .....
THE
EGOCENTRISM MADE SELFIE
If I had to summarize the story of the famous story The Brothers Grimm,
Snow White, I would summarize it with a single word, self-centeredness, because
it was the exacerbated love of self that led the queen to turn her into a being
so evil as to try to kill the poor young woman with red lips.
Well now that social
networks are in vogue, the egocentrism of the same evil queen of Snow White,
emerges with a phenomenon known as the selfie, and that is no wonder, full is
the Internet of images and photographs of people from the camera of a cell
phone become almost movie stars.
That mirror hung on the
wall that the queen asked incessantly, about whether it was the most beautiful
in the kingdom, to reassure her self-esteem, is in my concept the so-called
selfie phenomenon.
Of course, the mirror
that used to respond: “ You, my queen, are fair; it is true ” currently
responds through Facebook with a simple I like it or a I love it, but its
purpose is of course, to make us feel good, it's as if the more likes that
image has, the more beautiful I can be feel.
The selfie is a
self-portrait made with a camera, usually a digital camera or a mobile phone;
It is a practice very associated with social networks, since it is common to
upload this type of self-portraits to such platforms, then I could almost
assure that it is the new mirror of Snow White.
The selfie has a deep
psychological background, and this article, despite being a social criticism,
contains per se a sincere concern that transcends and that must be approached
with good sense and seriousness.
Our self-esteem can not
be subordinated to a simple image, our inner self can not depend on others and
this is where we enter into the real problem, the reaffirmation of ourselves
through the mirror, that is, through the approval of others .
What is John looking
for with uploading a selfie on networks celebrating his 40th birthday, on a
yacht in the Caribbean Sea, with women and tequila, which is what he intends to
demonstrate? Maybe he lives well? What is successful and happy? Or seeks to
demonstrate to others, which by itself is not capable of believing.
Great Celebrities of
the cinema like Marilyn Monroe; how many some, constantly asked her friends and
co-workers, if she was beautiful and intelligent, something hard to believe for
one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood history, difficult to believe that
she needed the approval of others to feel safe .
This is where I will
stop, which I consider the true core of the issue, the need for approval from
others, auscultated with a huge lack of self-esteem, that we need to publish
our happiness to feel happy, happiness is lived, not shown .
If one is accustomed to
living well, that is to say in the midst of luxury, travel and all kinds of
comforts, I do not think that you need to publish something so common for
social networks in your social environment, on the contrary who has had all
kinds of shortcomings When you buy your first car, it is safest to take the
photo and upload it on the internet, so that everyone knows how well you are
doing in life.
I have noticed that
people who saturate the social networks of selfies, photos and images, typical
of their lives even in their pajamas, have serious problems of acceptance, are
quite insecure and constantly change moods, while those who publish little seem
like have a more firm and stable personality, although it is not a general
rule.
Instagram has become
the ideal space to compensate for our lack of self-esteem and need for
approval, if you are ugly, the application erases scars, wrinkles and
blemishes, makes you look beautiful, because as I repeat the slogan is to show
the other than you are the maximum, anqué inside take you the devil.
There is a lot of
falsehood in social networks, people publish a lot of information that is not
true, because what interests is to sell an image the best, perfect, although
incompatible with reality, it is a kind of personal marketing where if you do
not show You sell, so it's best to enter this fashion.
Now if I am going to
give in the cardinal point of the matter, those who are addicted to the
self-portrait, the selfies, according to mental health experts are people with
a personality disorder called egocentrism, this implies the concern for oneself
and about how it is perceived for others. The narcissist is interested in the
satisfaction of his vanity and the admiration of his own physical and
intellectual attributes.
Within the
psychological effects of the abuse of social networks, on Facebook are:
- Facebook users tend
to have more narcissistic or insecure personalities
- People with higher
scores in narcissism were those who made frequent updates of the states,
published photos of themselves and used phrases or slogans to self-talk
- A 2012 poll of
matrimonial lawyers shows that Facebook had been involved in ⅓ of all divorce
applications the previous year.
What the phenomenon of
selfies and narcissism has done is to focus on the image. He has put in hand a
mechanism that perhaps many of us wanted to have before, but there was no
means.
You can make this a
virtuous circle, enhancing the positive or attractive image; or a vicious
circle by highlighting a negative image; without counting on people who do not
put a true image of themselves. Of course, not all are critical of this high
narcissism, since the "like" or "follow" of the uploaded
image can cause an increase in self-esteem that, perhaps, before was on the
floor. It is already known that beautiful words are never far away.
When making these
self-portraits, the selfies tend to feel superior to others but also, often
irritate quickly and are not able to accept criticism, and love to be
photographed with an electronic tool.
Now you know, before
posting your photos on large networks like Facebook, it would be convenient to
think why do you do it? Do you consider yourself a selfie? Do you need any kind
of help?
Written by
Omar Colmenares
Trujillo
